BearTalk

It’s been apparent since the end of the first week of camp that heralded running back recruit Brendan Bigelow was far from contributing. His knee may be completely healed but he hasn’t been able to cut loose and run completely hard on it yet, he’s still digesting Cal’s system and he is shaking off the cobwebs of not playing football for almost two years.

Bigelow is playing on the scout team now, meaning he’s far from playing. Jeff Tedford doesn’t ever have to say Bigelow is redshirting. He can just not play him and once the second half of the season comes along, we can draw that conclusion. But unless Bigelow starts making much bigger strides soon — and that will be hard to do on the scout team — it looks like he won’t be playing until 2012.

Tedford didn’t completely rule out Bigelow playing this season when asked about his status today, but he said it’s not likely. The only way I can see him playing is if the Bears incur injuries to one or two of their backs and they pull him off scout team for depth purposes. Even with that, he still has guys like
Dasarte Yarnway, Daniel Lasco and Mike Manuel with which to contend.

Kennedy-Richmond wide receiver Kenneth Walker called Jeff Tedford this morning after practice to give his oral commitment to Cal. Walker is rated as the No. 62 WR in the country by rivals.com. The Bears now have five commitments for the class of 2012, including two wide receivers (with Bryce Treggs being the other).

With the season fast approaching, just a reminder that you can also follow me on Twitter (@OkanesonCal) for updates and links.

The Bears held their last double-day of training camp Saturday, going in shells in the morning and full pads in the afternoon. That set up what essentially is the final day of camp — Monday’s scrimmage.

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Here’s a story I wrote for today’s paper, examining ticket sales for 2011 home games at AT&T Park.

Former Cal linebacker Worrell Williams is mentioned as one of the Miami recruits who received improper benefits from booster Nevin Shapiro in a scathing investigative piece released Tuesday by Yahoo! Sports.

Williams, whose brother D.J. Williams attended Miami and also is listed as a player that received benefits, was recruited by Miami before deciding on Cal.

• It’s looking more and more like RB Brendan Bigelow will redshirt.
• A former Bear has signed with the Raiders.
• This study shows the so-called experts have overvalued Cal in recent years.

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Pretty funny/tragic story here about former Cal linebaker Desmond Bishop. Apparently, Bishop wasn’t able to join his Green Bay Packers teammates for their visit to the White House yesterday.

Didn’t get this info up last night after practice, but a couple of updates:

• The game at Colorado on Sept. 10 will be broadcast on Comcast SportsNet California. Kickoff time remains 12:30 p.m. (PT).
• The game against Presbyterian on Sept. 17 will begin at 2:30 p.m. No TV arrangements have been made yet.

Good story here on what was provided to our newspaper group by Cal as a result of a public records request. As Cal has maintained all along, it doesn’t appear there has been any wrongdoing in its relationship with Willie Lyles.